Memscon - Radio frequency identification tags linked to on board micro-electro-mechanical systems in a wireless, remote and intelligent monitoring and assessment system for the maintainance of constructed facilities.  
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Radio frequency identification tags linked to on board micro-electro-mechanical systems in a wireless, remote and intelligent monitoring and assessment system for the maintainance of constructed facilities.
 
 

Release of the sixth MEMSCON Newsletter

Release of the fifth MEMSCON Newsletter

Release of the fourth MEMSCON Newsletter


MEMSCON Facts

Contract No: 036887 

Project total cost:  4.632.430

EC contribution: 3.814.816

Project Start Date: 1/10/2008

Duration: 36 Months

Coordinator: Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), Athens, Greece

Instrument: Specific Targeted Research Project

No of partners: 12

 

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D3.2 - Tests on full-scale column specimens

Executive Summary 

 

This report illustrates the design, development and results of tests on full-scale reinforced concrete columns to validate, in the laboratory, deformation sensors denominated “Phase-I prototypes”. These sensors are integrated in wireless nodes produced by ICCS, AMS and SITEX.

The scope of this experimental campaign is to extend the results of tests on reduced scale specimens (described in deliverable 3.1) to a more complex and realistic environment that can simulate the behavior of a real column in a building, up to an extreme scenario. During settlement and, more often, during an earthquake, columns can undergo extensive damage including concrete cracking, cover spalling, crushing and reinforcement yield. As we use the wireless network to estimate the damage level during or after these events, we must investigate the network performance and efficiency under the same conditions.

This report describes the design concept of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) specimens, their construction and instrumentation, the test protocol, the results and consequent observations.

The tests show that the sensors work correctly, with a precision of approximately 50me, which is adequate for many applications. A problem remains, that of the reduced range of measurable deformation (±4000me), which depends on the commercial sensor used, independently of the wireless acquisition.

Further, the campaign has quantified the importance of shear deformation in seismic damage, comparing this with effects due to bending. This is important for calibration of the damage interpretation model, which is the object of development in work package 2.